UAE Planning To Drag Iceberg From Antarctic To Solve Water Problem

UAE Planning To Drag Iceberg From Antarctic To Solve Water Problem

The United Arab Emirates is planning on towing icebergs from Antarctica to the Middle East in a desperate attempt to solve a drinking water shortage.

Experts have predicted that the current drought in the Middle East could last up to 25 years forcing countries in the area to think outside the box to solve the problem, The Guardian reports.

By dragging huge icebergs from the poles to into the Arabian Sea they UAE hope to ease the water shortage as the average iceberg reportedly more than 20 billion gallons of water which would provide enough water for one million people over five years.

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The vast mass of the iceberg would hopefully mean that the colossal lump of ice wouldn’t melt in the warmer waters as well.

Abdullah Mohammad Sulaiman Al Shehi the National Advisor Bureau Limited’s (NABL) managing Director has claimed that the project could begin as soon as 2018 and that it would take about a year to tug the iceberg from the Antarctic.

Once they’ve dumped the iceberg in place they NABL will chip off blocks of the iceberg and crush the ice into the drinking water wich will be stored in water tanks after being filtered by a watering processing plant.

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Mr Al Shehi also hopes that the iceberg could create a mini-climate which could help ease the drought.

He said:

Cold air gushing out from an iceberg close to the shores of the Arabian Sea would cause a trough and rainstorms across the Arabian Gulf and the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula all year round.

As the rising air expands, cools and condenses due to the decrease in air pressure. Water vapour is collected in the clouds, they become heavy and falls as rain.